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May 26, 1925. 1,539,455

w. H. YOUNG ET AL FLUSH .VALVE Filed March 9, 1923 s sheets-sheet 1 ATToRNEy Ma? 26, 1925. 1539,455 W. H. YOUNG ET AL FLUSH VALVE v Filed March 9, 1923 3 Sheets-Sht 2 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIY A TTORNEV May 26, 1925.

w. H. YOUNG T AL FLUSH VALVE Filed [arch 9, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ii mA k A TTORNE 17 I May 26, [UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE;

' rum-um n. YOUNG, or uremia," um nuns mom, or LYNDHUBS'I', m mnsmr;

FLUSH VALVE.

Application flled laroh 9, 1928. Serial No. 888,828.

To all whom it may concern:

- State of New Be it known that we, Wnmn H. YoUNo and James Mum, citizens of the United States, and residents of Bayonne, county of Hudson and L ndhurst, county of Bergen,

ersey, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flush Valves, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a flush valve and aims to provide a device of this nature particularly intended for use in connection with an installation where it is desired that the initial operation of an actuating member will set-1n motion certain mechanism serving to provide a flow of fluid. The present application aims particularly to provide a device of this nature which will be ositive in operation and simple in construction and which will present certain improvements over our coending applications identified as follows: lush valve, filed July 27, 1922, Ser. No. 577,908; flush valve, filed July 27, 1922, Ser. No. 577,909; valve, filed Feb. 10, 1922, Ser. No. 535,541.

It is a well appreciated fact in connection with flush valves as heretofore constructed, that considerable difliculty has been experienced, in that an actuating member is provided which if grasped by an operator and retained in its thrown position will cause a continuous flow of fluid until said actuating member is again released. Also, if the actuating member is thrown by the operator more than once during the flush period a prolonged flow of fluid will result which will primarily cause a great and unnecessary waste of the same and secondly, due to this improper operation of the actuating member, the parts of the valve quickly reach a condition in which the same do not function properly and this difliculty usually becomes apparent in that it is necessary to move the actuating member to the flush position and to retain the same in this position during the entire period in which the fluid is to flow through the valve.

Furthermore, in connection with installations of this type it. is well understood that numerous attempts have been made-to provide a mechanism which will connect the valve to a bowl seat in such a manner that an operation of the valve would occur at the desired time. These attempts have, however, not proven successful, in that the valve has functioned to provide either an insuflicient flow or a two prolonged flow of fluid and in certain instances, due to the construction and arrangement of the arts, a double flush has occurred, it being 0 vious that all of these improper operations have resulted in a great waste of fluid and furthermore have caused a rapid deterioration of the valve and a consequent increasinglg imperfect operation of the same, aside rom the inconvenience caused to the user thereof.

With these and further objections in mind our present invention aims to provide a valve which will be extremely simple in construction and positive in operation and which is' particularly intended for use in connection with toilet bowls although the same is not necessarily limited to this association and by means of which a sin le movement of the actuatin member wi cause a single operation of t e valve parts permitting only a predetermined amount of fluid passing through the valve, this flow occur-- ring through a stated interval-of time, concedin that the pressure is constant.

A Further object of our invention is that of providing a device of the character stated in which the actuating member may be held in the flush position after having been moved to the same and in which the flow of fluid will automatically cease after a redetermined interval of time regardless 0 whether the actuating member is held in the flush position or not.

A still further object of our invention is that of providing a flush valve in which the actuating member may be readily moved to its flush position during the flow of fluid through the valve without this actuation resulting in the flush being prolonged in the slightest. Thus, undue waste will obviously be avoided and the valve will be free from the mechanical conditions which have heretofore been peculiar to a device of this nature.

Another object of this invention is that of providing a valve which will not necessarily have to be used in conjunction with a pressure system necessitating a'tank, but which will operate efliciently on ordinary city water pressure and which in fact may be coupled with pipes of a diameter which has heretofore been regarded as far too small for use in connection with an appliance of this character.

Still another object of our invention is that of providing a valve of the type stated which may be coupled to the bowl seat in of the valve will occur at a-desired instant and in which this actuation will be over in a stated period of time and permit only of ber which is connected to the mechanism in such a manner as to assurebut a .single operation of the latter when the former is moved to its flush position, it being noted that it is necessary to wait until the cessation of the flow of fluid through the valve before a sub-' uent operation of the mechanism can be ected. I Reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings as illustrating one practical embodiment of our invention and it will be seen in these drawings that Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the valve embodying our improved construction.-

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken along the lines 3-3 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in Figure 2 and,

Fig. etis a fragmentary view of a portion of a valve having a part of its mechanism of slightly difl'erent construction than that embraced in the preceding figures, this latter type of valve being shown as coupled. to a bow seat Referring to Figures 1 and 2 it will be noted that the reference numeral 5 indicates the'exterior casing of the valve which may follow any desirable contour, this casing being zprovided with an intake 6 and an out- Within the valve casing is-formed an upwardl extending annular flange 8 opposite sure tending to lift the piston and thereb y g open the mam flush valve. This pressure is suc the in at 6. The upper edge of said flange forms a valve seat for the main or flush valve through which the flushing Waters escape from the space around the flange 8 into and downwardly through the space or passageway of which said flange forms the annular wall. The upper portion of the valve casing above the annular space around the flan e 8 is formed as a cylinder 11 within whic moves a piston 10. The space in the cylinder above the said piston forms a chamber intowhich water is introduced through a bypass to hold the main flushing water introduced through the intake and the piston provides practically a movable seal a between the space at the upper end of the cylinder 11 and the space around the flange or valve seat 8 communicating with the intake 6 in which space the fluid introduced through the intake exerts an upward pressuch a manner that an automatic actuation counteracted and overcome by the superior pressure of liquid introduced into the bygass through the upper ortion of the cyliner and. exerting its e set over the whole areaofthe piston- H 1' 3 1 The valve which works in conjunction with'the' valve seat 8 as the main flushing valve is indicated at-9 and is secured a ainst the under face of the piston'by any sultable means. Preferably we employ for this purpose a tubular member 12 extending downwardly within the flange 8 and having an internal threadat its upper end co-operating with an external thread upon the tube 12 extendin downwardly from the piston throug1 the valve 9. The upper end of the tube 12 is expanded to engage the lower face of the valve 9 so that, by screwing it up upon 7 the threaded member 14;, the valve 9, which may'consist of any suitable material adapted for wear, in co-operation with the valve seat on flange 8, may be firmly held in position against the lower face of the piston. The extension 14 and tube 12 form a passage for the escape of the bypass pressure water in the uper part of the cylinder 11, thereb permitting the piston to rise .under -the e ect of pressure on its lower face andto thereby open'the flush valve proper.

The upper end of the tubular member 14 forms the outlet for the escaping water passingv from the upper portion of the cylinder 11 and, surrounding said outlet, is a. valve seat 15 mounted on the upper face-of the piston while a valve 16 co-operate's therewith to normally prevent the escape of the water or fluid above the piston.

The valve 16 has a stem 17 extending downward through the tube 12 and beyond the same for operation, in a manner to be presently described, so that said valve 16 may be operated when it is desired that the main valve should open for the purpose of permitting the flush water to pass down through the flange 8 by lifting valve 9 from its seat.

Guide fins 13 are provided on the tube 12 and have a sliding contact with the inner face of the flange 8 forming the inner wall of the passage for the flushing water. These fins assist in (guiding the piston in its movements up an down in the bore or cylinder 11'. I The end of the cylinder 11 is closed by a threaded cap or plug 24 which may, ifdesired, be provided with a downwardly extending portion 23 oo-operating with the relief valve 16 as will be presently described.

A by-pass 18 is formed in the casing 5 and has one of its ends in communicatlon with the intake 6 thereof while its opposite end communicates with the cylinder 11 at a point adjacent the up er end of the same and the flow of fluid t rough this by-pass be controlled in, any desirable manner as by providing the same with a valve seat with which a valve 19 -0 crates. The latter is rendered adjustable y any suitable means such as by mounting the same upon a screw-threaded plug 20 which has its threads ll engagement with corresponding threads provided on the face of a bore 21 formed in the casing it being noted that we prefer to normally close the bore by means of a cap 22 so as to prevent tam pering with the adjustment of the valve 19.

Thus assuming that the intake 6 is connected with a source of fluid supply it will be appreciated that this fluid will flow through the by-pass 18 and act against the upper faces of the piston 10 and valve 16, to cause the latter to firmly engage the seat and to cause the former to remain in a position at which the valve 9 will firmly engage the seat 8. Further, assuming that the valve 16 is unseated, it will be understood that the fluid which is trapped within the cylinder 11 will be free to escape through the opening 14 and the bore of the tube 12 and so on through the discharge opening 7 of the casing. This action of the fluid will immediately allow the iston to move upwardl through the cylin er 11 incident to the uid pressure acting upon the under side of the same and this movement will continue until the valve 16 is forced upon the seat 15 by enga 'ng the cap or plug 24 through contact wit the projection 23. Immediately thereafter the fluid which flows through the by-pass 18 will be free to act upon the upper faces of the piston and valve and the latter will now be forcedinwardly within the cylinder at a rate ,correspondin to the speed of flow permitted through t e by-pass by the valve 19, until the valve 9 again engages its seat 8 to prevent a further flow of fluid through the valve casing.

Secured to the main casing 7 is a secondary casing 27 upon and within which are mounted valve operating means for tilting or opening the valve 16 in a manner to be presently described. Through said secondary casing the flushing waters pass to and through the pipe 25 coupled to 27. The casing 5 at its bottom is threaded to form means for attachment of a flanged collar 26 thereto and having an outwardl extending flange as shown. The exterior o the secondary casing 27 is also threaded at its upper end and co-operating therewith is an inwardly flanged and interiorly threaded clamp ring 28 for securing the casing 27 to the casing 5 and affording a continuous sealed passage for the flush water.

It is to be noted that the inward flanged portion of this latter member engages the outwardly flanged portion of the collar 26 and thus upon the ring being tightened it will be obvious that a tight joint will be provided at this point, although by simply rially beyond the casing. 5 and it will be noted reference being had to Figure 2 that the same projects to a point well within the casing27. At this end of the stem 17 there is movably mounted a trigger 29, which, when the valve 16 is seated and the piston 10 is in its innermost position, all us with a part of plunger end 30. This p un er is slidably mounted in an extension 31 orm ing a part of the casing 27 and a suitable type 0 actuating member may be provided by utilizing a handle 32 which is formed with an annular shoulder 33 adjacent its inner end, this shoulder bearing against a corresponding annular flange 34 carried by a cap 35 which it attached to the extended portion 31 of the casing 27. A spring 36 is interposed between thls extended portion and a head 37 secured to the plunger 30 and. thus the same will normally be retracted, but incident to the fact that the plunger bears against the inner end of the handle 32 it will be obvious that a projection thereof may be effected by rocking the handle and utilizingthe flange 33 thereof as a fulcrum in conjunction with the flange 34 so that the plunger will be projected against the expansive action of the spring 36.

Due to the fact'that the trigger 29 aligns with a portion of the plunger 30 the projection of the latter member will serve to move the trigger when these two elements contact and for this reason the stem 17 will be materially rocked (the edge portion of the valve 16 of the seat 15 acting as a fulcrum). Consequently the valve 16 will be unseated and will be held in this position while a portion of the fluid within the cylinder 11 flows past the seat 15. The piston 10 will. consequently be 'n to rise within the cylinder under the e ect of pressure exerted against its lower face by the fluid in the space around the flan e 8 and in direct communication with the lntake 6 and will carry with it the valve 16 and this movement will obviously result in the trigger 29 moving out of contact with the end of the plunger 30. However, we have found by actual experiment that the disengagement of these two latter elements does not result in the immediate re-seating of the valve 16 but this member will continue to occupy a plane inclined with respect to the upper face of the piston until engagement with the extended portion 23 of the cap 24 forces it upon its seat. In other words the piston will be'free to travel the full length of its stroke before the water flowing through the by-pass again tends to move it to its normal position and this action will obviously not occur until the valve 16 prevents any fur- '32, in an impro er manner; for example,

continues to hol the plunger 30 in its projected position: after havin initially moved the actuating member to t e thrown position it will be seen that the piston will rise, the valve 16 will subsequently be seated, the piston will return to its normal pgsition and thus the valve 9 will prevent a rther flow of water past its seat 8. However, due to the fact that the trigger 29 is mounted to move around a pivot 38, it will be appreciated that upon the return of the'stem 17 to its normal position, incident to the cycle of operation aforementioned, the trigger w1ll merely rock upon comin intoengagement with theupper edge of t e plun er and the parts will remain inoperative, ikewise, if the plunger 30 is repeatedly rojected during the working stroke of t e piston, this improper operation can have no efiect, in that the trigger 29 is moved clear of the lunger and it will hence be necessary in both of these instances for the operator to permit the plunger to be fully retracted after the parts have assumed their normal position and subsequently to project this plunger in order to again operate the flush valve.

Incident to the motion provided between the casings 5 and 27, it Wlll be appreciated that the actuating member may be swung to any desired position during the installation of the valve and thus our device can be adapted for use much more readily than devices of a similar character. However, to retain the trigger 29 and plunger 30 in operative positions with respect to each other it will be noted that we utilize a guide bar 39 which referably forms rt of the casing 27 ans is provided wit a. slot 40 of a configuration corresponding to that of the stem 17, which in the present embodiment of the invention is square. Thus, any twisting of the casing 27 with respect to.the casin 5 will result in a movement of the stem 1 also with res to this casing but this stem' will remain lmmovable with respect to the plunger so that no disarrangement of the parts ma possibly be effected and alignment of t e plunger 30 with respect to the trigger is insured.

Our device obviously lends itself to numerous types of installation such as for example, as has been s own in Figure 4. In this view the parts of the mechanism above the collar 26 have been broken away as it casing 211; preferably of the same ty 7 and portion 21, p u'nger" the stem '17," ext ended 30 and trigger 29 area ever, contrary described the plunger 30 is now mounted to occupy a normally projected position by means of a sgring 41 which is interposed between a bee a cap 43 secured to the extende portion 31 of the casing 27 Thus, the trig r 29 is normally in the position shown in, igure 4 and in order to move the stem 17 to efi'ect an unseating of the valve, it is necessary to retract the plunger against the expansive force of the spring 41 and to subsequently release this plunger, it being noted that in the interval elapsing between these operations thetrigger 29 will fall to a position at which it will align withthe end of the plunger. When the parts are thus operated the stem will cause the unseating of the so "identical. Howto the construction afore- 42 aflixed to the (plunger and valve carried by the piston and a proper opinstance shown the same in association with a toilet bowl and according to this embodiment of the invention the plunger 30 mounts an extended portion 44 projectin beyond the cap 43 and terminating in a head 45 en aged by a fork 46. This fork is attache by means of a plate to a seat 47 which is secured to a bowl 48 by a pivot 49, a suitable counter-weight 50 to be employed to assist the spring 41 in normally holding the parts in this position. Thus upon the seat being pressed downwardly, the plunger will be retracted and the trigger w1ll rock to align with the end of the same. When the seat is subsequently released the plun er will engage the trigger and unseat the Va vc and the parts will alternately return to the position shown.

Finally it will be noted that as in Figures 1 and 2 a suitable bumper may be associated with the casing 5 in an deslrable manner, as for example, by forming this casing with a groove and in mountin therein a rubber strip 51 which may be re-mforced by a core 52, it being obvious that incident to the mobility of the actuating member i. e. the handle 32, that the partsmay be so adjusted that none of the same will interfere with each other and the bumper will act to accomplish all of the results for which it is intended.

Thus, it will be obvious that all of the objects of this invention have been accomplished and it will be understood that numerous modifications of structure may readlly be resorted to'and that the device may be utilized in diiferent associations without in the slightest departing from the spirit of our invention as defined by the claims which are:

1. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, a piston slidable within said casing said piston being formed with an opening, a valve seat adja cent to said opening, a valve engaging said seat and a stem secured to said valve and extending through the opening in said piston a trigger pivoted on the lower end of said stem and having a free end extending transversely to the stem and a plunger adapted to engage the end of the trigger at its lower side so that as soon as the piston begins to move the trigger will be out of operative relation to the plunger and movements of the latter will thereafter not cause the plunger to engage the trigger.

2. A flush valve including a casing having an intake, a piston slidable within said casing and seating upon a valve seat formed in said casing, a relief valve seated-in an openingin said piston and having a stem extending down through the flange forming the valve seat, a secondary casing through which the. flushing Water passes, an actuating member for the relief valve mounted on said secondary casing and extending into the same for engagement with the stem of the relief valve and a flanged clamp ring engaging a threaded portion of one casing and a flanged part of the other casing as and for the pur pose described to permit the operating handle of the actuating mechanism to be set in the desired angular position with respectto the intake.

3. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings means providing a valve seat within said casing, a rocking or tilting valve engaging said seat, a stem extending from said valve, a trigger, a pivot therefor on the stem on which it may rock longitudinally of said stem and an actuating plunger adapted to reciprocate laterally with respect to said stem and impinge against said trigger in the closed position only of the valve to move.

the stem sidewise. v

4. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means providing a valve seat within said casing, a valve engaging said seat, a stem extending from said valve, a trigger, a pivot therefor on the stem on which said trigger may rock longitudinally of the stem and adjacent the outer end of the same, and a reciprocating plunger movable laterally with respect to said stem and adapted to impinge against said trigger in the lowermostposition of the valve to move the stem sidewise and thereby tilt the valve. I

5. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means promay rock in a vertical direction in its. de-

scent, the said trigger projecting laterally into the path/of a manually actuated member impinging against said tri ger only when said valve is in normal posltlon.

6. In a flush valve, the combination with a main. casing carryin a main flush valve and valve seat thereo an intake for said casing, a relief valve, a secondary casing forming a duct for the flushing water, operating mechanism for said relief valvecarried by said secondary casing and a flanged coupling ring for securing said casings in any desired position with respect to one another so that the actuating member may be fixed in any desired relation to the intake upon installation.

7. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means prov viding a valve seat within said casing, a tilting valve adapted 'to engage the said seat, a trigger, a pivot therefor on the valve stem upon which the trigger may rock in a vertical direction, an actuating member including a plunger movable with respect to said casing and mounted adjacent to said trigger in operative relationthereto when the valve is fully closed, said plunger and trigger direction and a laterally reciprocating actuating member movable with respect to said casing and operatively engageable with said trigger when the valve is in its seated position, said trigger being carried by said valve,

to a point beyond the plane of movement of said actuating member when said valve is'in an unseated position. i

9. A flush. valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means providing a valve seat formed within and carried by said-casing, a valve adapted to engage said seat, a secondary casing secured to said first named casing and adapted to be I turned and set in the desired position with respect thereto, means for forming a liquidtight joint between the secondary casing and the first casing in all positions into which the secondary casing may be turned and an actuating member carried by said secondary casing and. adapted to efiect an unseating of said valve. i 0

10. A flush valve including a; casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means providing a valve seat fixed within and carried by said casing, a valve adapted to engage, said seat, a stem secured to said valve and extendin beyond said casing, a secondary casing a apted to be turned and fixed in any desired position with respect to said first named casing without disturbing the position of the valve seat therein, an actuating member carried by said secondary casing and adapted to effect an unseating of said valve, and guide means carried by said secondary casing and engaging the stem of said valve to sold the same against turning movement with respect to the actuating member thereof.

11. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, means providing a valve seat within said casing, a valve adapted to engage said seat, a stem secured to said valve, a trigger carried by said stem and at a point beyond said casing, a secondary casing secured to said first named casing and adjustable circumferentially around the stem, means for maintaining a liquid-tight joint in any position of adjustment, an actuating member carried by said secondary casing and adapted to engage said trigger, and guide means also carried by said secondary casing and adapted to engage said stem and hold the same against turning thereby maintaining said trigger in proper position with respect to said actuating member.

12. A flush valve including a casing 1 formed with inlet and outlet openings, a piston slidable within said casing, a valve forming a part of said piston, means within said casing providing a seat tor said stem and a plunger movable endwise toward the stem to engage said trig er and adapted to engage the same only w en said valves are in seated position.

13. A flush valve including a casing formed with inlet and outlet openings, a piston slidable within said casing, a valve forming a part of said piston, means within said casing providing a seat for said valve, said piston being formed with an opening and a valve seat adjacent to said opening, a second valve carried by said piston and adapted to normally engage said last named seat, a stem secured to said valve and extending through the opening in said piston and be yond the same, a trigger pivotally secured to said stem and extending laterally there from and a plunger movable endwise to engage said trig er to tip the valve and adapted to engage the same only when said valves are in seated position and means engaged by said second valve to seat the same when said first-named valve reaches its point of maximum opening. 7

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of ew York, this 8th day of March, A. D. 1923. WILLIAM H. YOUNG.

'JAMES MUIR. 

